


Something New

by scy



Category: Doctor Who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:41:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Jack Harkness, in the control room, with an alien and a variation on a proposition</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something New

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompted by Jmtorres mentioning she was interested in a certain visual. That's pretty much all it took. I thank her for her original inspiration, encouragement, read-through and pointing stuff out. ::mwah::

By the third time Glenn Miller's voice serenaded them from speakers the Doctor swore were there and Rose confided she had never seen, Jack had taken off his hat and coat. He was still standing on the edge of the central platform, though, as if he wasn't sure he should come any closer. That had changed soon enough; Rose had wanted to check out another galaxy, as if she was looking for real estate, and Jack had already been aboard, so he went along. He hadn't been dressed according to local fashion, but it was acceptable for visitors to dress according to their tastes, so he had only been eyed as somewhat curious and a tourist.

That didn't mean there weren't alternatives; the wardrobe housed in one of the Tardis' enormous rooms was massive. There was rack upon rack of clothing from a dozen or so easily recognizable periods in Earth history stood out, and there were hundreds of variations and trends from other worlds that Jack hadn't visited or that were only accounts of their glory days.

Jack had been sent in the general direction of the dressing rooms after a large and bad-tempered creature with more limbs than intelligence or good humor, had tried to snap him into pieces. He'd escaped; by way of not having wasted his semester of survival training, but his pants had suffered beyond repair. It wasn't until they were on their way back to the Tardis that Rose had pointed it out. The Doctor made a disparaging remark about ape powers of observation, but Jack and Rose let it stay under his breath, no sense in encouraging one of those rants. Still, once they'd taken off and Rose declared she was going to find a quiet place by herself and appreciate a little time where she wasn't running for her life, Jack still felt a draft up one leg.

"I don't suppose you've got a change of clothes?" The Doctor said without looking up from where he was pressing on a lever until it slotted into its proper place.

"I did, but someone let my spaceship explode and I'm afraid I didn't have time to pack my bags," Jack said.

"Right." The Doctor didn't apologize for not giving Jack warning or doing anything so considerate by human standards and Jack was beginning to assume there wouldn't be anything more than what he thought was reasonable, so he waited for the concession.

"There's a few things lying around, you'd better take a look, unless you like flashing a bit of leg for the locals."

"If they enjoy the view, there's no harm, right?" Jack grinned when he got a sharp, openly measuring look, as if the Doctor hadn't decided whether Jack was making another off-color joke pr putting himself on offer, again.

"Clothes?" Jack promoted, leaving innuendo between them to be examined or ignored.

"Head down the hall, take the first left, three rights, and next two lefts." The Doctor was focused on a panel that blinked instead of glowing steadily like its neighbors.

"Got it," Jack said, and as he moved with unhurried purpose, the Doctor called after him.

"Pick something that's not too outlandish, you stand out enough when you open your mouth."

Jack could have said a number of things and only a quarter of them would have been overtly salacious, but he chose to rather smile brightly and leave the Doctor with the possibilities.

He found the room and was digging through 21st century garb, thinking it best to blend in with the century the other two were emulating when he paused.

The Doctor was under the console muttering about inter-dimensional time pockets and missing spanners. He didn't acknowledge Jack until he noticed that he was right next to him.

"Something wrong with your boots?"

"No, they survived," Jack admitted.

"Then you lost them on your way here?" The Doctor guessed.

"One more try," Jack prompted.

"What is it, then?"

They didn't seem to go with what I'm wearing." Jack paused and then said, inspired, "Although a bomber jacket and boots might just pull it all together." He hopped up on the edge of the console, legs swinging into the Doctor's field of vision should he give in to his curiosity and look up. In the meantime, Jack looked around the Tardis. At first glance it was overwhelming, the high ceiling and soaring architecture that seemed almost organic in the way it supposed the structure and yet bore great resemblance to rocky instead of metal. Whatever system heated and cooled the ship, it adjusted the temperature to suit its occupants, and Jack found that even though his legs were bare, he didn't feel as though he should be searching out another layer to bundle up in.

"I suppose I'm going to have to ask what you're going on about, since obviously you can't be bothered to speak plainly," the Doctor groused, and Jack rolled his eyes.

"Yes, or you could just look away from what you're doing for a moment, unless it takes all your attention to change one tiny light bulb."

"You never know, it very well might." But the Doctor seemed agreeable to taking a small break, especially if he thought there was the potential to point out that Jack was clearly out of line. He looked up and stared silently for a moment, no visible double take, but the absence of insults was worth the trouble Jack had gone through digging through the mounds of clothing until he found it.

The dress was white with dark thread stitching a line of lace along the neckline made out of something finely woven and soft. Jack's fingers brushed the hem and he admitted. "It's rather light for winter, but we might finding some warm weather along our travels."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "It's a bit casual, what'll you do if there's a formal event?"

"I found a couple other things that'd be suitable," Jack assured him.

"All the same style?" the Doctor asked out of what could have been idle questioning, if not for the fact that Jack saw a hint of a smile.

"I have varied tastes," Jack said.

"Commendable." Shaking off the moment of levity, the Doctor continued. "While you're hanging around, see if you can make out what's going on with that panel on the far side." He waved a hand in the general direction of of another set of buttons and switches and continued with what he was doing. From his dismissive demeanor, he plainly expected Jack to hurry and do what he was told. Not that he was going to actively disobey the Doctor when he made a reasonable request, but Jack thought it was telling of how secure he was in his position as host/pilot/boss.

Jack padded around the center console, noticing again the vibration of the Tardis beneath his feet. It didn't feel like an engine turning somewhere deep inside the ship, but more like someone talking under their breath in a language he didn't understand. "Does she always sound like this?"

"I don't hear anything odd," the Doctor said absently.

"Which would be a yes," Jack said helpfully.

Having been given quite a few of these non-answers since becoming a part of the crew, however inadvertently, Jack was beginning to get the impression it amused the Doctor to talk around other species especially when he thought they were les clever, although Jack had seen him nearing offensive word choice even with races that he admitted had done some passable work on improving themselves. To listen as he went on about uppity civilizations who thought they were pioneers in exploration and conquest, the universe was a playground full of kids who needed to be pulled back in line every so often. It was either a compliment or an insult that after so many years, the Doctor still had an interest in humanity. Jack wasn't sure whether it was that he could was still amazed by the generational leaps in technology or the fact that despite some dedicated dictators, humans hadn't wiped itself out yet.

He didn't expect to be given the answer simply because he was hanging around without shoes on, but given enough time, the Doctor was showing small signs of warming to him and that was promising.

"Everything comes easily to you when you assume that time, as an experience doesn't have to affect you."

"Are you speaking from experience or in a general sense?"

"Very specifically, of you and that Time Agency."

Jack's protest was solely personal; he had enough built up issues about his former employers that he, could, and had used it in interrogations to deflect attention from any wrongdoing. In fact, he was quite good at making it seem understandable that as a direct result of having his memories were stolen, he hadn't had any choice but to rectify the wrong. The line worked best when he was in uniform, it didn't matter what branch of the service or what century, but that didn't pay the bills, and his scams of the Time Agency kept his spaceship powered up and flying away from prosecution.

"So you're saying I have it easy?"

"Yes." There was no space for alternate interpretation in the Doctor's reply.

"Fraud is not for amateurs," Jack corrected. "Genuine deception takes someone with vision and the intelligence to improvise when there weren't any props."

"Magicians do the same thing and they carry rabbits in their pockets," the Doctor retorted.

"I've tried that, they make an awful mess," Jack recalled.

"Might be self-preservation."

"Implying that a small furry animal isn't safe in my company." It wasn't that Jack was actually offended, but there was the question of whether the Doctor truly had doubts about Jack.

"I think that unless it had a signed document stating that you would only exercise good intentions, anything would have to be careful around you."

"If you don't trust me, then why scoop up my ship and invite me into your Tardis?" Jack let some of his suspicion come through in his words.

"There was Rose to consider, and her fondness for your type." As if he was compelled to please a young girl and was railing against constant nagging and rearranging of his life.

"And what is that?" Being unconvinced, Jack let it be loud in his voice.

"The kind that will get her into trouble she knows how to extricate herself from."

"As if she hasn't already become familiar with such obstacles." Even though she was young, Rose was gutsy and unwilling to stand down when someone much older tried to convince her that they knew more and so she should listen to them even when they were wrong.

"There's a distinct difference between being thrust into danger and inviting it," the Doctor chided.

Jack leaned over to get a look at the Doctor and let him feel the force of an incredulous look. "You sound like a nervous aunt, Doctor."

Even millennia-old aliens who could travel across galaxies in the time it took to pour a cup of tea didn't always exhibit restraint, and the Doctor's frown, though quickly suppressed, was an accurate gauge of how quickly he was losing his cool.

"What I have done and seen is further from your grasp of the universe than you can even begin to imagine, mortal." The Doctor scrambled out from under the console, apparently about to continue his tirade, when he paused. "Are you , taking in Jack's attire more fully. "Are you aware that's a summer frock?"

"I noticed. What do you think of the cut, too risqué?"

"Rather fetching," the Doctor conceded and then took in their respective positions. "Did you just wind me up so I'd take a another look at you?"

"It was rather effective," Jack noted, and turned deliberately to the display of lights and located the bulb that was blinking out of sequence. "Looks as though the problem is right there," he announced, and stepped back so the Doctor could confirm his guess.

"You're right," was the grudging answer, and as the Doctor turned, Jack was resting hands on hips.

"I can't make out whether you've been skipping over meaningful lessons as they cross your path of if you were raised to avoid them."

"If I told you, that would be much too revealing."

"I think I can figure it out." The Doctor's tone implied that he might even be bothered to take the time necessary for such an endeavor.

"So you're interested," Jack was good at interrogations, this one was more difficult because he was learning the Doctor's tells were way off what anyone else would notice, but they were starting to stand out as Jack observed and interacted with him.

"In?" Now it was the Doctor's turn to play at not knowing what they were talking about.

"Figuring me out." Apparently it was best to spell things out as bluntly as possible.

"I didn't say it would be an all-consuming task." Not the alien was going to concede easily, but it was beginning to be kind of endearing.

"Again, you think that everything is so obvious." Jack had dealt with ancient beings who had records or memories going back centuries and they always thought that simply having that knowledge meant they had learned something from it.

"It can't be helped."

"Maybe you just need to get a new perspective." Which Jack was an expert in offering.

"From you?"

"It couldn't hurt." More likely it would be a welcome change from the way the Doctor had been living as he jumped in and out of people's lives, not stopping to take any of it in, just solving a big problem and flying away.

"Are you certain of that?"

"It hasn't so far." With the exception of, shortly after they met, there almost being a global disaster. The Doctor's expression indicated that he was tracing the same events as Jack and remembered them a little differently, probably with an emphasis on Jack's mistakes, but he let a smile show.

"According to some, but there's room for improvement."

"That's such a relief," Jack said seriously.

"Clearly, and you've made yourself at home by going through the whole of the wardrobe and found something for every occasion."

"I like to have a few options." Jack said, putting heat very purposefully into his voice as he adjusted his stance to expand on innuendo.

The Doctor picked up on it, he played at being cheerfully unaware of emotions but was well-versed enough to know when he was being propositioned.

"Well, if there's a need for it, I do know where the nicer pieces are stashed," the Doctor said thoughtfully.

For a second they grinned openly at one another.

"Good to know," Jack said.


End file.
